The brother of a Canadian man under investigation in China for espionage is calling the charges against his sibling “totally absurd.”

“The charges are absurd, it’s all political,” Todd Garratt told the Star from his Mississauga home. “The only thing I can think of is because Canada accused China of spying, China is now looking for retaliation. It’s the only thing I can think of.”

China’s official Xinhua News Agency says Canadian nationals Kevin Garratt and Julia Dawn Garratt are being investigated by the state security bureau on suspicion of stealing state secrets about China’s military and national defence research.

Todd Garratt said his brother and sister-in-law have operated a café for the last several years, Peter’s Coffee House, located in the northeastern city of Dandong in Liaoning province near the North Korean border.

Kevin Garratt, 54, is originally from Mississauga, said his brother, and lived briefly in Vancouver before moving to China in the mid-1980s.

Todd Garratt said three of the couple’s four children were born in Canada. Their son, Simeon, 27, currently lives in Vancouver and a daughter lives in Calgary; son Peter, 21, and daughter Hannah live in China.

The current situation is “very scary,” Garratt said, adding that it’s been a struggle to obtain any information about his family, and most of what he has gleaned has come from media reports.

He tried to reach his nephew, Peter, but found that his email and phone appear to have been blocked.

“We have been trying to get in touch with people, but haven’t heard back. We are waiting for some news right now,” said Garratt. “From what I’ve been told, the Canadian government is working to get them out or to do something about it, but I don’t know any details on that yet.”

The Department of Foreign Affairs released a brief statement on Tuesday, saying little except that they were monitoring the situation closely.

“Canadian consular officials are providing assistance to two Canadian citizens who have been placed under investigation in China,” John Babcock, a spokesman for the department, wrote in an email. “We are in contact with local Chinese authorities and the family, and are monitoring developments closely.”

The department declined an interview request or further comment, citing privacy concerns.

Todd Garratt said Kevin and his wife have founded several orphanages in China and are openly Christian.

“They’re open about their religion,” Garratt said. “They don’t force it on anyone, but they’re open about it. If someone asks about it they will talk about it.”

The café website advertises a “relaxing and friendly atmosphere,” offering western foods, such as spaghetti, steak and cheesecake.

“Only meters from the border of North Korea and Dandong’s Friendship Bridge, it is the perfect stop off while en route to or returning from the Hermit Kingdom,” the Peter’s Coffee House website describes the hub. “We also can help you organise a trip over the border. Just ask.”

In November 2013, Kevin Garratt spoke at the Terra Nova Church, the “church of second chances” in Surrey, B.C.

Kevin Garratt said that “God gave the couple a vision” to go to Dandong and start the coffee house.

The audio file of the sermon was removed from the church’s website Tuesday afternoon.

The detainment comes one week after Ottawa publicly accused Beijing-backed hackers of breaking into the National Research Council’s network. The federal government has not clarified what the hackers were after, or provided any evidence for to support their allegations, which Chinese officials flatly deny.

Gordon Houlden, the director of the University of Alberta’s China Institute, says he finds the timing of charges against the couple “odd.”

“I do find it odd that in week one you have public complaints by Canada about Chinese cyber hacking, or allegations of hacking, and in week two you have two Canadians arrested on extremely serious charges,” said Houlden. “(But) finding the timing odd or unusual doesn’t amount to proof.”

The charges are different from allegations of state-sponsored hacking, Houlden noted.

“It’s not counter-allegations of Chinese cyber hacking, which I’ve seen from the Chinese. This is a response of a different sort, if indeed it is a response,” he said.

Houlden said that he can’t recall any precedent for Canadians living in China being charged with stealing state secrets. He added that he’s not aware the Garratts have been formally charged with any crimes.

As to possible religious factors at play in the arrest, Houlden said that he had wondered about it, given Beijing’s “recent moves” against Christian churches in China.

“(But) the part that doesn’t square are the charges, which don’t fit,” Houlden said. “Normally people who engage in proselytizing, et cetera, without permission . . . the normal thing would be to let their visa to expire, or to ask them to leave, or something in that order. The charges . . . are not what you’d expect would be brought to bear against Chinese let alone foreigners without some powerful reason to do so.”

The couple’s son, Simeon Garratt, said his parents were out for dinner with friends when they were detained Monday night.

“As of right now, my parents are being held in an undisclosed location. I have heard that they’re safe but they’re just a bit confused. They actually have no idea what’s going on,” Simeon Garratt said in an interview from Vancouver with the Canadian Press.

“My parents basically run a coffee shop, my mum taught some courses at the university there and they’ve done some human aid work in North Korea, but nothing ever detrimental or negative towards China or anything like that.”

Younger brother Peter, who lives in Dandong, told Simeon Garratt he’d been taken in for questioning, where he learned from Chinese officials that his parents were being held. He was instructed to bring spare clothes and toiletries, but wasn’t allowed to speak with the couple. “He didn’t get to talk to them. They said maybe later,” Simeon Garratt said.

On the other side of the world, Todd Garratt continues to wait for word of his brother.

“He’s spent the last 30 years in China, and he’s worked his whole life trying to help out China,” Garratt said. “He’s a very moral, outstanding person about everything. That’s just his entire life.”